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World monuments park & more Sajila Saseendran (sajila@khaleejtimes.com) / 3 July 2013 His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Tuesday reviewed and approved new civic projects being implemented by the Dubai Municipality, which include a miniature park of world monuments and a central library with over two million books. If a tourist wishes to see all the famous monuments across the world in the shortest span of time, flying into Dubai is likely to be the way out in future. The ‘Mini World Park’ that was approved by Shaikh Mohammed is designed to showcase the replicas of famous monuments from all over the world, the Dubai Municipality said in a statement. The project is expected to feature nearly 300 replicas of modern, historical and natural monuments. The Empire State Building — New York, CN Tower — Toronto, Petronas Towers — Kuala Lumpur and Swiss Re Tower — London will come under the modern monuments’ section along with Dubai’s own iconic buildings Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab. The Eiffel Tower of Paris, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben of London and Taj Mahal of India could also be seen at this first of its kind park in the Arab world. Historical landmarks will include replicas of Abu Simbel temple and pyramids — Egypt, Timgad — Morocco, Great Wall of China, Leptis Magna — Libya, Kingdom of Kerma — Sudan, Aztec Temple — Mexico, Roman Colosseum — Rome, Acropolis of Athens — Greece, Stonehenge — England and Petra — Jordan. The park would also contain some models of natural monuments such as Hanging Gardens of Babylon — Iraq, Ayers Rock (Uluru) — Australia, Raouché Rock — Lebanon, Mount Rushmore — USA, Rice Terraces — Philippines, Easter Island — Chile and Niagara Falls — Canada. Shaikh Mohammed also approved a central library named after him. It will be a unique architectural masterpiece, designed in the form of an open book. The building consists of a basement, ground floor and seven levels with a total area of 50,000 m2. The library will accommodate a million books in display, in addition to 1.2 million books in storage. Al Mamzar Corniche Beach project that aims to add 60,000 m2 of area to the public beaches of Dubai also received the approval of the Ruler. Located in the Mamzar area opposite to the Palm Deira between Al Mamzar Park and Al Hamriya Port, the one kilometre long project includes all basic and advanced facilities of public beaches in line with the Blue Flag quality mark recently achieved by the Mamzar Beach. It is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2014. The second stage of the Sewage Water Treatment Plant in Jebel Ali aimed at serving one million people was another project approved by Shaikh Mohammed. The municipality said the Sewage Water Treatment Plant Department had almost completed the designing of the second stage. The construction of the Dh1.5 billion project is expected to start in July 2014 and accomplished by December 2016. The total area of the plant will be 41,000 hectors by 2020 with the capacity to serve 2.25 million people which will in turn help to increase the green area of the city up to 450 hectors and enhance its beauty. A Dh35 million snail-shaped Maritime Museum of aquatic species with great views of the Ras Al Khor Sanctuary, and the second stage of an ambitious waste-to-energy project also received the go-ahead from Shaikh Mohammed. The sustainable development project is named “2020” in anticipation of Dubai’s win its bid to host World Expo 2020. The initial phase is designed to extract methane gas from the landfill in Al Ghusais, mitigating 250,000 tonnes of carbon emission per year. Shaikh Mohammed also reviewed the Hatta Housing Project, the approved plan of which has 302 housing plots to be built for citizens over 375,000 m2 at the site in Hatta which he had visited last year. Shaikh Mohammed’s visit to the municipality’s head office in Deira was as part of his follow-up to the performance of the government departments at federal and local levels. He was accompanied by Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and was briefed about the projects by Hussain Nasser Lootah, the Director-General of the Dubai Municipality. Shaikh Mohammed emphasised the importance of teamwork and coordination between all departments and entities, saying, “We are all walking in one direction and we have to walk a straight path to get to the end of the road, and beyond, successfully.” (With inputs from Wam) Continue reading →